- Pentagon, you do a solid job protecting the United States and all, but is it too much to ask that you exhibit even a modicum of capability when it comes to knowing the whereabouts of your experimental hypersonic vehicles over the Pacific? Oh, and you’ve now lost two such crafts in the span of just a few months. This time around, the loss of contact occurred just minutes after the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 was launched from space. The hype around the vehicle was immense, as the HTV-2 was supposed to ride on the back of a rocket to the edge of space, where it would separate and tear through the atmosphere at an impressive 13,000 mph before splashing into the Pacific Ocean, approximately 4,100 miles and 30 minutes later. Had the miraculous occurred and the flight actually worked, it would have shown how missiles of this shape and flight pattern could strike targets halfway around the world almost instantly. That would display significant progress in the Pentagon’s “Prompt Global Strike” plan to attack foes anywhere on the globe in less than an hour. Instead, the HTV-2 is AWOL and there is no spinning this f*ck-up. “There no way you can call it a success. Let’s be blunt about it,” a source familiar with the program admitted. A written statement on the blunder tried to paint it in a positive light by pointing out that the Minotaur IV rocket “successfully inserted the aircraft into the desired trajectory and the HTV-2 transitioned to Mach 20 aerodynamic flight,” and that “more than nine minutes of data was collected before an anomaly caused loss of signal.” Prior to the launch, it was announced that this would be the final HTV-2 test flight before control of the program is transferred to another branch of the military, most likely the Air Force. There, it could die a slow death because the Air Force isn't likely to pour money and effort into an expensive program that hasn’t shown much forward momentum, as of yet. The second HTV-2 flight was even worse than the first, which took place in April and saw Defense Department monitors lose touch with the aircraft after nine minutes in the air. Months and months of testing were supposed to fix the problem, but to no avail. Spending $308 million a pop and receiving such poor results just seems like a waste……the very thing government agencies and entities excel at…………
- Stay classy, Libya. While London is burning (literally and not just in a song by The Clash), your diplomats are attempting - ironically enough - a "fire sale" of properties and luxury cars in London worth up to £100 million in the days leading up to their expulsion. The riots and fire sale may not be directly related, but at the seeds of unrest were growing in London, Libyan embassy officials attempted to sell off nine exclusive properties and 29 vehicles including limousines, Mercedes and other high-end vehicles. The diplomats were expelled last month after the British government announced that it was recognizing the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) as Libya's only legitimate government and would expel the remaining Tripoli regime diplomats. British intelligence sources tipped NTC staff off to the fact that the so-called fire sale was underway and anti-Gaddafi embassy staff in Benghazi began to hide car keys and lock away title deeds for the homes. The British Treasury assisted by freezing the sale of all Libyan assets in Britain. Among the assets put up for hasty sale were mansions in Mayfair and Kensington as well as estates in the Home Counties. "In the days before their expulsion an instruction came in from Tripoli to sell everything before it became too late," a Libyan opposition official said. The source even went with the ultimate cliché of claiming Gaddafi's envoys tried to sell "anything that wasn't nailed down" in the embassy in Knightsbridge, west London. The bum rush to pawn items became so desperate that expensive Persian carpets and electrical goods including television were sold. Similar reports of “fire sales” have come in from a number of other Libyan embassies across Europe. Money is undoubtedly tight for Gaddafi and his sycophants as they scrap to remain in power even after NTC forces succeeded in cutting off some of the oil supplies that Gaddafi has been diverting to the frontline. It never ceases to amaze what a desperate despot in the final days of his power will do to hold on for just a few days longer……….
- For an NFL coach who was fired at the end of the previous season, there would seem to be plenty to regret. When that team finishes third out of four teams in its division one year removed from playing in the NFC Championship Game, regrets are likely to be even more prevalent. So what does science-teacher-formerly-masquerading-as-an-NFL-coach Brad Childress regret now that his tenure with the Vikings is over? Asked that very question by NFL.com in an interview, Chilly had an answer locked and loaded. Without hesitation, he replied that his biggest mistake was approving the addition of troubled, now-retired receiver Randy Moss to the locker room. Childress believed at the time the veteran-laden locker room could accommodate Moss successfully, but in retrospect he was wrong. "We had good guys, by and large, [but Moss] walked in the locker room and vomited on it," he stated. Wow……a nice vomit blast? Why not top it off with a “he took a dump on everything the organization stood for” reference? For the record, the Vikings acquired Moss from the New England Patriots after starting the 2010 season 1-2. He lasted four unproductive weeks before Childress broke him off without informing owner Zygi Wilf beforehand. "I should have gone up the chain," Childress conceded. Wait……you should have gotten the owner’s approval before essentially firing a guy he just traded a draft pick for and who is signing the checks to pay that player? Good call, Mensa. The Vikings did go 1-3 with Moss and he gave them nothing, so cutting him wasn’t the worst move. He was then by the Tennessee Titans and was worthless for them as well before “retiring” prior to this season because none of the teams he wanted to play for made him a contract offer. Childress didn’t even last the entire season after cutting Moss. He was fired in November n after a 31-3 home drubbing against the Green Bay Packers that dropped Minnesota to 3-7. Curiously, Childress said he had no regrets about coaxing The Ol’ Gunslinger, Brett Favre, back from retirement last season even though Favre was abysmal with 11 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions, plus multiple concussions and injuries. But hey, you can’t regret every single dumb thing you did…………
- Don’t cave in, striking Verizon workers. Do not allow The Man to dictate to you when, where or how you can picket in your ongoing strike against your employer! As negotiations plow forward in New York and Philadelphia between the company and its workers and workers across the state of New York continued picketing Thursday, police informed the striking workers that their tactics had crossed some imaginary line and needed to be scaled back. “This is an injunction from the company limiting our ability to legally strike,” lamented Verizon field technician Mike Mackowski. He and other striking workers were met by police at the picket line in Amherst Thursday morning, telling them the usual 70 workers on the line has to be limited to 15 here. A statewide injunction has imposed this and other ridiculous restrictions on the picketers because Verizon whined about them “taking their picketing too far. A defiant Mackowski vowed, “It did not break the union at all. It probably made us stronger.” The allegations against the workers are at once inspiring and yet completely untrue, ranging from firing a BB gun at workers still on the job in the Bronx to blocking trucks from getting into Verizon facilities and committing more than 70 acts of sabotage to Verizon equipment, including some in Central New York. Were these charges true, they would be uplifting and awesome because who can’t get with striking, mistreated workers lashing out at The Man with some quality sabotage and BB gun shooting? Seriously, BB guns are going to hurt who, again? But let’s give Verizon a chance to defend itself against the indefensible. “We don't want those dangerous situations for anybody and in some cases it was getting a little out of hand to be perfectly honest,” said John Bonomo of Verizon Communications. Nope, not buying it, John boy. Just look at Wednesday’s big, peaceful rally in which thousands of workers gathered to make their voices heard as some of the many CWA and IBEW union members who have been on strike since contract talks broke down over the weekend. The CWA has already field an appeal to the injunction and is hoping for a response within 48 hours. Until them, keep up the acts of sabotage…..er, um, protest…………
- Really? This debate is still going on? How long have conspiracy theorists and idiots with nothing better to do with their time been trying to start the rumor that two puppets on a public television children’s show have a sexual orientation and that orientation is homosexual? The debate with no meaning or purpose whatsoever won't go away and it’s being kept alive in part by Facebook and Twitter. Facebook boasts a Bert and Ernie Get Married Facebook page that is currently home to a heated conversation about the pros and cons of having the Muppets marry. The producers of “Sesame Street” have addressed the issue before, but felt compelled to do so again this week on their own Facebook page, posting the following statement: “Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.” In other words, kooks, stop trying to co-opt puppets designed to educate children about things like reading and counting and jam them into your social agenda. THEY ARE PUPPETS. THEY DO NOT HAVE SEX AND THEREFORE DO NOT HAVE A SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND MORE THAN A ROCK OR A SLAB OR CONCRETE. The most difficult part of the entire situation is whether to feel sorry for the ass hats debating this topic or to find the nearest iceberg to place them on and float them out to sea the way some Eskimos do to deal with their elderly when they are too old and frail to be of any use. For any and all persons who have been involved in this debate at any point in its ridiculous existence, feel free to view this as the optimal time to shut up and go away……..forever……….
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